--------------
Hi Morris,
    The wasserboxer is very similar to the pancake when it comes to doing a
rebuild. Your pancake experience will serve you well.  I feel you can bring
your old engine back to life smoother and stronger than it was originally.
I am very happy with my 2.1L  that I rebuilt last fall. I rebuilt bottom and
top and had the crank and all components  attached to it balanced at a local
speed shop.  This  makes it very smooth and steady.   The list vendors  have
all the parts you will need.  Unlike the pancake the wasser probably won't
need a cam, p&cs, the bottom end of this engine is very strong.  My  2.1 had
228k miles and little bottom end ware.   This engine doesn't seem to have
the problem like  pancakes  of the crank whipping and beating out the center
main bearings.  Good luck with your quest.

Darrell Boehler
Makanda Illinois

-----Original Message-----
From: Morris Arthur <morris@CMR.SPH.UNC.EDU>
To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM <Vanagon@VANAGON.COM>
Date: Monday, March 16, 1998 5:35 PM
Subject: Long-block source recommendation ('83)

>I have an '83 camper with leaking head gaskets and excessive oil
>consumption...
>
>I've been told that rebuilding the engine myself is more
>trouble than it's worth, even though I have rebuild experience with
>air-cooled pancakes... Could someone point me toward suppliers of
>water-cooled long blocks with quality reputations?
>
>Thanks for the help.
>
>+ Morris Arthur                                       morris_arthur@unc.edu
>+ Center for Multiphase Research                 http://cmr.sph.unc.edu/CMR
>+ Environmental Sciences and Engineering, UNC   http://www.sph.unc.edu/envr
>
>